Butternut Squash Casserole

This was my first attempt at an alternative sweet potato casserole. I love this dish at Thanksgiving & have never tried to make it. It was a huge hit! And we even found a use for the corn-free Marshmallows that kiddo wouldn't eat.

Casserole:

1 medium Butternut Squash roughly 3 cups

4 Tbsp Butter (ghee)

Salt

Pepper

1/3 cup brown sugar (Wholesome Sweeteners is "safe")

2 Tbsp Orange juice or milk (optional)

Peel & cube squash. Put pot of water and bring to a boil. Turn down heat & cook gently until tender; about 20 minutes; drain. Whip in electric mixer, adding butter, sugar, salt & pepper to taste. Add orange juice or milk especially if using dry squash (not very moist). Beat until smooth. Put in buttered baking dish and add topping. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until marshmallows start to brown.

Topping: Candied pecans & marshmallows (corn-free)

1 cup pecans

1/2 cup sugar syrup

Bite-size bits of marshmallow to cover casserole

Sugar syrup: Use a 1:1 ratio of sugar & water. Cook sugar in water until it dissolves.

While making sugar syrup, toss about a cup of pecans in the toaster oven at 350. Lining the pan with tinfoil helps with clean-up later. Let pecans toast for about 20 minutes. Remove from toaster and pour syrup over nuts to coat. Put back in toaster oven for another 10 minutes. Remove candied nuts from pan & add to top of casserole. Add enough marshmallow to cover casserole. A faster version is to put the nuts on the casserole and then just drizzle the syrup over the nuts.